


When the Number Changes

by mumblingmaria



Category: Morning Glories
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-23
Updated: 2013-10-23
Packaged: 2017-12-30 07:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1015796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mumblingmaria/pseuds/mumblingmaria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything is stuck. It’s almost like he’s still running through the forest, terrified for his life. He almost wishes he were.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the Number Changes

Hunter stands under the apple tree, heart still pounding from running there. He tries to wipe the sweat off his palms across the jeans he’s wearing, but it doesn’t seem to get him anywhere closer to being dry. All he can do was trying and catch the breath that is trying to escape from him with out giving anything in return. 

He can feel the world trying to close in around him and it makes him wonder if Zoe had the right idea. Maybe he should have died back in the woods instead of her. He still doesn’t understand why he was saved, why he’s still stumbling around. He has been pushed and shoved and has been told what to do, but he still doesn’t understand. The ginger boy can only try and piece together what is happening, but he still feels like he’s chasing after a long lost memory or dream. And all because Zoe hadn’t managed to kill him.

Zoe. Even though he had tried to make his peace, a part of him still feels he can never fully forgive himself. He knows that wasn’t fair, she had killed a fair amount of people, but it doesn’t change the fact that he feels somewhat guilty for everything that happened. When he closes his eyes, all he can see is Zoe dying, all the blood. He wakes up in cold sweats some night, trying to find the same breath that is eluding him now. He sometimes wanders past the few places they spoke before that day, wondering if she would one day just show up again to tell him just how useless he is. Can you blame him, weirder things have happened.

A cool breeze blows past the boy causing him to shiver. Hunter rubs his arms as he leans his back against the trunk of the tree. He closes his eyes, breathing the memory of the last time seeing her. As another breeze passes and his opens his eyes up again, sighing when nothing has changed. He’s still alone under a tree. It’s still chilly, especially since he forgot to bring a sweater. He still is trying to run from a past that he can barely deal with.

It doesn’t help that Hisao had completely changed. Not that Hunter blames his friend, losing a family member is hard, he gets that. He can only imagine the pain of losing someone only just after finding them again was like. But all this doesn’t change the fact he misses his friend. He doesn’t really have anyone to talk to anymore with Hisao avoiding everyone. Ike is one hundred percent out of the question, no shock there. Guillaume seems nice, but was new to the room and Hunter still had issues with all of Hisao’s old friends, being tricked and shot by them can do that. Casey is… well she’s complicated. And Jade just doesn’t seem to need more problems on top of her own. 

He just needs his friend back. He needs to know he was still an option to turn to. That if he’s ever in trouble he has someone to go to. He wants to make more pop culture references that went over his friend’s head again, despite him being five foot eleven. He wants his friend to be frank with him again. He wants him to tease him. He just needs things to go back before the Woodrun.

He rubs the back of his neck out of habit before sliding down the tree to sit on the roots at the bottom. He looks at the other trees that surround him, trying to figure out how to go about the rest of the day before it disappears. The sun is starting to dip below the forest he think he may have spent an eternity in. He knows he needs to return to his room, but he can’t stand the feeling of being alone anymore. 

“Hunter?”

The voice makes him jump, also causing him the bash his head against the tree behind him. Cursing under his breath and rubbing his head, he turns to look at the speaker. Casey standing a few feet away, her hand holding the skirt of her uniform still in the breeze. There’s a faint shade of pink on her cheeks and nose from the evening chill. Hunter’s heart squeezes inside of his chest as he notices the cool breeze gently blowing her hair around.

“Uh… hi,” he says, standing up slowly. His hand moves back to his neck as he stares down at the ground. “How did you find me?”

“I went by your room to see if you wanted to study and well… Ike and that French guy-“

“Guillaume,” he fills in for her.

“Right, Guillaume, said you ran off after Jun yelled at you. Ike then made a rude comment and Guillaume sulked off. Anyway, I wanted to make sure you were okay. You know how weird stuff happens here,” Casey says, shrugging slightly.

“Okay… but how did you know I would be here,” the ginger gestures to the tree next to him.

“Oh… Well… this was our to-be date place… so I just sort of figured that maybe…” her voice trails off and she looks away from him. He can’t tell if her cheeks are pinker now.

“Well you found me, and I’m okay,” he says, smiling slightly. “No need to worry.”

The blonde nods and they stand in silence. Hunter’s hands start to feel sweaty so he tries rubbing them on his jeans again. Casey shifts a few times on her feet, both teens looking anywhere but each other. After what feels like minutes passing, they both catch the other’s eyes.

“So,” they say at the same time. They share a smile before the boy gestures for Casey to continue. “So… are you going to head back?”

“Oh, right. I think I’m going to sit here a bit longer. You should go back, you look cold,” he answers. 

Casey frowns as Hunter turns away a bit and sits down against the tree again. He takes a deep breath in hoping that he can calm his heart down. He doesn’t need these feelings he has for this girl to get tangled up with what he was dealing with earlier. He doesn’t need to try and sort out more pain in that moment. 

Hunter feels the air change around him and looks next to him to see Casey sitting down next to him, smooth her skirt out to cover her folded legs. She glances at him before looking out that the sun falling behind the forest. His breath should have been caught in his throat, but he just feels like he can breathe easily now. Normally the girl has an affect on him that makes him feel like his dies every time he sees her. But now… now she’s easing the pain in his heart. 

They sit in silence and for once neither of them feels the need to fill it. For a moment they can pretend that they aren’t terrified that tomorrow may be their last day. They can pretend that their actions won’t be deciding if someone may live or not. They don’t have to about surviving. They can just be. Be two teenagers unsure of what they want to be when they grow up. They can think about how they’re going to do on their next test. They can think about if they’ll ever find the right person.

The blonde shifts and her hand brushes against the boy’s. He looks at her and she shrugs. Neither moves the moment before the boy places his hand on top of hers. He smiles and focuses on the much darker skyline, though there was still a sliver of light skimming the tops of the trees. Another shift and Casey’s leaning into him slightly. If he would to look, Hunter would see a smile on her face as well, one filled with a peace that hadn’t been there in what seemed an eternity.

After a slow breath in, the ginger looks at the girl. “I guess we should go inside… you know, so none of the faculty try to attack us.”

She chuckles before meeting his gaze, “That’s a good idea.” She stands up first and reaches a hand out to him. 

Smiling, he accepts her hand, letting her pull him up from the ground. They stand still, staring at each other before Hunter lifts a hand to tuck a piece of hair behind Casey’s ear. His hand slowly drops and he gestures to the school, “Lead the way.”

They make their way back in silence. Hunter wants to thank her, but doesn’t want to deal with the rest of the explanation. He still feels bad about Zoe. He still wonders if his best friend is going to come back to him, to let him in again. He knows Casey is still complicated, that it still hurts around her. Ike is still out of the question. Jade still seems just as lost. But he also knows that while all of this is true, he knows that sometimes people are late. So maybe all this will fix itself. Maybe the clock will finally read a different number.

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing my first MG fic and just… really wanted to write more. And then I just came up with this on a walk and have been in a down mood and it all just came together. Also it’s fun getting Gwen excited about MG. I also really wanted to add a bit with Casey saying that next time they should bring a blanket and food (you know, picnic try two) but it just... would have made the ending happier... that wasn't the plan.


End file.
